Temptation
[tem(p)'teɪʃ(ə)n] or [tɛmp'teʃən]
Definition
(noun.) something that seduces or has the quality to seduce.
(noun.) the desire to have or do something that you know you should avoid; 'he felt the temptation and his will power weakened'.
Typist: Lucas--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of tempting, or enticing to evil; seduction.
(n.) The state of being tempted, or enticed to evil.
(n.) That which tempts; an inducement; an allurement, especially to something evil.
Checked by Gregory
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Enticement (especially to evil), allurement.[2]. Bribe, bait, lure, decoy, golden apple, voice of the tempter, song of the Sirens.
Checker: Michelle
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are surrounded by temptations, denotes that you will be involved in some trouble with an envious person who is trying to displace you in the confidence of friends. If you resist them, you will be successful in some affair in which you have much opposition.
Typist: Tito
Examples
- Meantime, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation: the spirit, I trust, is willing, but the flesh, I see, is weak. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- It was dreadfully improper, I know, but I couldn't resist the temptation, and lifting one end of the curtain before the glass door, I peeped in. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- For my temptation to _think_ it a right, I refer every caviller to a brick house, sashed windows below, and casements above, in Highbury. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Perhaps I might have resisted a great temptation, but the little ones would have pulled me down. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- His next proceeding, in case of temptation, was to throw the key out of window. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The temptation is strong to say that workaday electricity is half an American. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Temptation leapt on him like the stab of a knife. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- A like temptation might, perhaps, occasion a like corruption in the form of law proceedings. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- And suddenly fear possessed her--fear of herself, and of the terrible force of the temptation. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- They accosted me as Satan, bid me avaunt, and clamoured to be delivered from temptation. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I rested my temples on the breast of temptation, and put my neck voluntarily under her yoke of flowers. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The temptation was too strong. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- She would be never led into temptation, nor left for it to find her out. Jane Austen. Emma.
- I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing--I know that. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Many circumstances assisted the temptation. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Where, to what distance apart, had her father wandered, led by doubts which were to her temptations of the Evil One? Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Jo, dear, we all have our temptations, some far greater than yours, and it often takes us all our lives to conquer them. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- All the discretion, all the experience, which had availed me with other women, and secured me against other temptations, failed me with her. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- That is merely one of the temptations of theory. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Don't think too well of me, either, this is not one of my temptations. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- If you take temptations into account, who is to say that he is better than his neighbour? William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I suppose each mode of life produces its own trials and its own temptations. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- He is her lover, whoever he is; but she may need help and womanly counsel;--there may be difficulties or temptations which I don't know. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- When thus prostrate, temptations besieged her. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The comparative innocence of the other European powers is to be ascribed largely to their lesser temptations. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Edited by Barrett